Between the Pages
by Duality98
Summary: Reid had never been the kind of guy who liked conflict. He was more for using his brain than his fists, which was why he was perfect for the BAU. But when he falls for a girl that really makes his blood boil, how long will the romance last? Can it even work at all? ReidxOC


**Well, hello there, internet! This is my first CM story, and I proof-read it at least 5 times, so I hope it's good. Just a fair warning, I am not sure about the amount of cliché's this thing will have, but it will not be an entire story filled with them! I hope I update this quickly, but you should know how it gets. I have nothing else to say, so please enjoy!**

**Disclaimer I don't own Criminal Minds. I can only imagine if I did...**

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It might as well been the apocalypse. Dr. Spencer Reid was late to work.

He didn't really have a good reason, either. He couldn't blame his alarm, he turned it off. He couldn't blame traffic, he was walking to work (despite the brisk autumn air). The blame was solely on himself. He could have set the blame on his migraine, the real culprit, but doing would accept that as his excuse. Then he'd have to tell that to his team, and he didn't really need the baby-ing. So, Spencer resigned to hoping something would happen, something to give him a valid excuse. He got his wish.

Amber Parson was on her way to work, late as usual. She was running along the sidewalk when she passed an alley. Now, she would have passed the alley on any other, normal day. It was gross, shady, and notorious for drug deals. But she was late and desperate, and needed to get in good with her boss at all costs. She knew that if she cut through it, it would put her about two blocks from the café she worked at. Peeking into the alley, she saw that it was empty. Amber sighed, took a deep breath, and scurried on through. Her eyes had failed to notice the rugged man sitting in wait behind the dumpster though, even as she passed by him. When she took that first step past him, he reached out and grabbed her ankles and yanked her to the ground. Not expecting that, she landed face-first on the cold cement. He then leaped on top of her, not at all gracefully, and tied a gag on her mouth. He was about to tie her hands together, but she dodged his meaty claws and ripped the gag off her mouth.

"HELP! HELP ME! HEL-…"

Cursing under his breath, the attacker pinned her arms to the ground with his legs and retied the gag. He was about to start tying her hands together when Amber lost all hope.

Reid heard the scream and instantly shifted into federal agent mode. He threw his coffee cup in a nearby trash can and started running to the source of the noise. Peeking around a corner, he saw a thickly bearded man straddling a petite brunette. Reaching into his bag for his gun while simultaneously setting the bag on the ground, Spencer quickly did a mental profile on the assailant.

_Mid 30's. Definitely homeless or living in the slums. If I had to guess, he just wants a cheap thrill. This doesn't look personal. All I have to do is wave my gun at him and he'll probably get off her._

"FBI!" He shouted as loud as he could, appearing from around the corner. Obviously startling the man and woman, he stood strong, his gun out in front of him. Reluctantly, the man got off of her.

"Put your hands on the wall." Reid motioned at the far brick wall, and the man sauntered over to it. As much as Spencer wanted to help the poor girl up, he instead walked with the guy and put his gun on the back of the man's head. Then he whipped out his phone and called the police.

"911 what is your emergency?"

"Hi! Yes. There's been an attempted rape here in the fifth alley from the corner of Jefferson street and…."

He turned to the girl, who was still sitting on the ground. "Hey, what street are we on?"

She looked up, as if just remembering he was there. "Plum Creek." She whispered. Nodding, he turned back towards the phone.

"Plum Creek Avenue."

"Alright sir. Do I need to deploy an ambulance?"

He turned to look at the victim. She finally stood up, and she seemed to be ok. "No, I don't think that is necessary. We just need a police car. I have the assailant here."

"Alright sir. The police are on their way."

"Alright, thank you."

Hanging up, the agent finally directed his attention to the girl. He offered her a little wave and a smile, although he knew it was awkward looking. She gave one back anyway, but her lips did not return the smile. Instead, they let out a little sob. Before long, she was full-out crying, falling to her knees yet again.

Licking his lips, which Reid tended to do when he was nervous, he racked his brain for advice. Finally remembering an article from one of his science newspapers, he said, "You should look up and shout out random numbers." She stared at him through her tears with a look that questioned his sanity. Blushing, he explained, "Japanese scientists have done a study on it. The looking up is supposed to help stop the flow of tears while the shouting random numbers triggers the brain to make more endorphins, which are the joy chemicals in your brain. You know, there are actually a lot of different methods out there, but this seems to be the one with the best results in the shortest amount of time.

Amber still looked skeptical. She did, however, stand up. Then she looked up. Reid could see frustration written all over her face as her tears relentlessly streamed down her face. She tried to cross her arms over her head. Begrudgingly, she started to walk in circles. Wiping at her eyes, the young woman finally started to count. "27, 4, 8, 9, 16, 32…."

The numbers started off as small whispers, but gradually she raised her voice. By the time the police showed up a couple minutes later, her words had turned into almost-shouts. When they arrived, Amber stopped counting and wiped her eyes for the last time. The police were, thankfully, quick about loading the man into the car and driving away. The rapist still found time to make a quick wink at the poor girl, though, causing her to bury her face in the closest thing she could find. This just so happened to be Spencer's old, comfy burgundy sweater he was wearing. Although startled for a second, the agent began patting her back and stroking her hair. This gave Reid the perfect time to finally thoroughly examine the girl. She turned out to be fairly short, about 5'4. He noted that that wasn't actually that short, but it was also taking in the fact Reid himself was 6'1. There was no doubt a bruise developing on her somewhere, seeing as she had been wincing in pain since he saw her, but he couldn't see any forming on her tan skin. From what he remembered, her pupils, while hard to see since her eyes were a very dark brown, weren't dilated nor different sizes, which was a good sign.

When she finally collected herself and let go of the federal agent, her immediate action was reaching up and holding her head, right on the left side of her hairline. When she pulled her hand away, she looked down and saw it was covered in blood. She gasped. Spencer now noticed blood matting down her side swept bangs. He mentally chastised himself for not noticing it as he saw her about to erupt in tears again. "Hold on!" he quickly ran and grabbed his messenger bag. Dumping the contents onto a patch of dry-ish ground, he quickly grabbed his mini med kit. If she wasn't still mentally freaking out about her head spurting blood, Amber would have chuckled at the fact he had one.

Spencer grabbed a small medical pad and some gauze. As carefully as he could, he placed to pad on her head, under her bangs, and started wrapping the gauze nimbly around her head. Amber tried to focus on how many times he was wrapping it around her cranium, and not the reason why he was. _One. Two. Three. Four. Five._

He finally finished and flashed her a small smile. "I'm sorry if I wrapped it too tight." He said, while his eyes darted from the floor to her face. A pink tint played on his cheeks.

She waved him off with her hand. "It's fine. I mean, it feels fine." Then, the brunette grabbed her bag and pulled out a black hat. When she put it on, Spencer couldn't help but notice how bizarre it was. It was almost a cross between a beanie and a messenger hat, but more the former than the latter. She noticed him looking at it and chuckled slightly to herself. "My grandmother made it for me a couple years ago. She passed away right after she gave it to me. So, even though it's weird looking, I still wear it. It's almost cute in a different way.

Spencer nodded, and even agreed a little bit. It was still strange looking, though. The moment got tense and awkward. They were both looking around, but not really at each other. Finally, Amber spoke up again.

"Thanks, by the way. For helping me."

"Oh, it was no problem."

Scoffing, she replied, "Are you kidding me? The guy was going to rape me!" She raised her voice an octave, causing him to wince slightly. She noticed.

"Are you ok?" Amber asked, her voice laced with concern.

"Uh, yeah. Just a headache."

"Really? I have some Pamprin in my purse if you want it..."

He chuckled a little. "Your offering me pills designed for menstrual cycle related pains?"

She blushed. His smile grew.

"Well, uh, at least let me treat you to a coffee at the cafe I work at. It's right down the street."

They were walking now. He had picked up the contents of his discarded messenger bag, and they were slowly making their way down the street. They passed by many people, bustling on their respective ways. Neither of them really noticed, though, nor cared.

"Well, I'm already late…."

She smiled again. "It'll only take a minute. I'm fast."

He mulled it over in his head. Looking down at the girl, he saw her dark eyes were sparkling with hope. "Sure, why not?"

They stopped in front of a small cafe. A big sign was on the window, displaying the name of the quaint little building. The federal agent scrunched up his nose at the strange name.

"The Taboo?"

"Don't even ask. It was named that before I got here and nobody will talk about it." Amber rolled her eyes. "What's your name, by the way? So I can at least thank you properly"

"It's, uh, Spencer. Dr. Spencer Reid. The Doctor, it's, uh, not really necessary though."

She nodded, smiling at his stammering. "I'm Amber. Miss Amber Parson. The Miss isn't really necessary, though."

He reached out his hand timidly, but to his surprise, she enveloped him in a hug. After a moment's hesitation, he returned the gesture.

"Well thank you, Spencer Reid, for saving my life. Come on in."

They entered, and Reid wasn't at all surprised when he saw an average looking café waiting for him. He walked up to the bar as she went behind the counter, tying an apron on. He also couldn't help but notice the highly irritated look her coworker gave her, but Amber didn't seem to mind.

"So, what can I get for you?"

Reid answered without even blinking. "Large coffee, three creams. Do you have sugar packets?" She nodded. "Eight sugars please."

Her eyes widened quickly, but she still made the coffee quietly. When she handed it to him, she couldn't help but adding, "Feel free to come visit me later. We're open until midnight."

"Oh wow. That's late. And I might, thank you. I'll see you later Amber."

"Bye Spence!"

He made his way out of the coffee shop quite quickly, relishing in the feeling of the cool air on his semi-flushed cheeks.

_At least now I have an excuse._

* * *

"Hey, Pretty Boy finally arrives."

Reid rolled his eyes at his buff friend. Sitting down at his desk, he took off his beat up messenger bag and began to crack into the gruesome paperwork from their latest case. His stack looked quite large, no doubt stuffed with other's paperwork. JJ walked in from her office, stopping when she saw Reid.

"You're late."

Reid glanced at her, offering a simple nod.

"But you're never late."

Reid looked up, and seeing three pairs of eyes on him, sighed. He had realized he would have to tell his team eventually, but he was hoping it was after his migraine had died down a bit. "I was late because I uh, I saved someone's life."

Now he had their full attention. He sighed again. There was a part of him that had hoped that simple sentence would have sufficed. It was a pointless hope, he knew, but he still had hoped it. "I was walking to work when I heard screaming. I looked in this shady alley, and there was this guy about to assault this girl. So, I pulled out my gun and got him to get off her. He is now with the police and she is ok and well."

His friends finally looked content with that answer. JJ mumbled "Got to avoid those alleys."

"Actually, you're more likely to die from donkey attacks than alley attacks."

JJ rolled her eyes. "Thanks Reid, now I'm scared of donkeys." She continued to walk to the break room.

Morgan remained, stirring his coffee and looking at the young agent. "She was pretty, wasn't she?"

"Who?" Reid asked, not looking up from the paper he was working on.

"The girl you just saved. You thought she was pretty didn't you?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Was she your age?"

"She looked about 27. So yes, I suppose."

"Did you get her number?"

Spencer finally looked up. "What? No!"

"Well, did you make plans?"

Reid paused a moment, remembering her invitation. "She offered me a free cup of coffee at the cafe she works at."

"Ha-ha, the kid got himself a girlfriend!"

"I do not!"

"My little prince has a girlfriend?!"

Penelope shuffled into the room, making Reid sigh again and lean back in his chair.

"I'd like to point out that I do not have a girlfriend."

"He's just got a date with her later."

"It's not a date."

"I bet it's in his bedroom."

"Garcia!"

"C'mon guys. If Reid says it's not a date then it isn't." Blake finally spoke up from her desk. Spencer turned and smiled at the motherly agent, who smiled back, and continued working. Morgan just snorted and continued on his way to his office.

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**Yes, she works at a coffee shop. Because why not. Again, I hoped you enjoyed, please leave a comment, and have a nice day! Also, I know I have no control over it, but feel free to pretend Amber is you and looks nothing like she is describes if you want to. I know I do that to other stories...**

**Chao!**


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